Anywhere High School Staff Manual

Purpose
The student publications at Anywhere High School are designed to be a
communications link between students, their school, and community. Their
duty is to inform students about school events, personalities, activities,
current events, and trends that will affect them. Besides providing
opportunity for the exchange of ideas among readers, student publications
also exist as an academic tool by which student staff members explore
communication skills and careers.

The high school press is governed by the same basic legal rights and
responsibilities as the professional press. High school journalists have
the right guaranteed in the First Amendment to free expression, insofar as
published items may not contain libel or obscenity, invade the privacy of
individuals, incite or violate the laws of copyright, or violate community
standards of appropriateness.

With the right to freedom of expression comes an obligation to the highest
ideals of the journalistic profession. These include responsibility,
independence, sincerity, truthfulness, accuracy, impartiality, and
decency. Good taste should be exercised in all content.

The student publications of Anywhere High School will act as a forum for
students, staff, parents, and other interested readers.

Goals
Stated generally, the goals of student journalism at Anywhere High School
are to inform, entertain, interpret, and provide a sounding board for
ideas and opinions of students and faculty.

Ownership and Finances
The legal publisher of student publications is the School Board. The
agents of the Board are the school principal and the adviser of the
publications.

The publications staff accepts advertising that sells products and
services. The sale of advertising demonstrates that the publication is a
successful communication link that reaches a reading and buying market.

Staff Qualifications and Membership
Staff selection for high school publications will be determined through an
application process carried out before the new semester's enrollment.
Student applicants will be evaluated on the basis of skills, experience,
grade point average, citizenship and attendance. Finalists will be
interviewed and selected by the current advisor and editors.

Removal from the publication's staff may be recommended by the advisor,
counselor, principal, or editorial board. Removal from staff will not
occur before the student has been given a written warning from the editor
which allows the student a minimum of two weeks in which to remedy the
situation; however, in the case of plagiarism or any other deliberate
violations, no written warning will be given.

Attendance Policy
Developing good work habits is certainly a part of publication goals for
staff members. Employers expect literate, cooperative workers who place a
high priority on being on the job, on time, every work day. Poor
attendance in the classroom is disruptive and will result in disciplinary
action. Poor attendance will affect the grade received in the publications
class.

Excused absences will be honored with a plan between the teacher and the
student to make-up missed work. This plan needs to be initiated by the
student within five days of the absence. Unexcused absences will not be
honored. As with any job, when you do not attend, you do not get paid. The
same applies to your grade in class. Excessive (10 or more) unexcused
absences are cause for disciplinary action and/or suspension.

Regardless of excused or unexcused absences all deadlines should still be
honored or disciplinary action will follow.

Responsibilities
Members of the staff are responsible for their own job as outlined in each
publication's section of this manual.
Student journalists will also follow these general guidelines.

Student journalists will:
Submit copy that conforms to community standards and good
journalistic writing style.
Rewrite material to improve style, sentence structure, grammar,spelling and punctuation or to remove material not permitted in school
publications as elsewhere specified.
Check and verify all facts and the accuracy of all quotations
using proper attributions.
Failure to complete these duties and responsibilities listed in the
publications manual can result in disciplinary action.

Members of the staff are expected to follow all rules of the school while
on staff business, even if business takes them off school grounds.
Students who break school rules are subject to removal from staff.

The responsibilities of the advisor include the following:
Serve as a liaison between the administration and staff
Provide instruction and practice so that students can master
journalistic skills and concepts.
Provide leadership and guidance
Establish a workable chain of command for the staff
Establish a sound budget
Supervise students engaged in the publication program
Be available for advice
Keep abreast of legal and ethical concerns
Be aware of technological changes and the impact on scholastic
journalism
Provide an equitable grading and reward system
* The adviser is not present to run the staff, but to act as a resource

Yearbook Staff

Job Descriptions

Editor-in-Chief
The editor-in-chief is responsible for achieving the goals below.
The editor will determine his/her own specific approaches to achieve these
goals; therefore, the editor will help set the "tone" of the year. This
job description seeks only to outline general areas of responsibility in
an effort to keep the editor aware of his/her performance. In the case of
co-editors, they must work with the adviser to divide the responsibilities
equally.

Participate in at least one summer workshopDevelop a theme and a deadline schedule
Work with the other editors to keep them conscious of the theme
Work with the layout editor to keep the style and layout of the
book consistent
Must act as a liaison between the adviser and the staff
Work to reduce personal conflict within the staff to a minimum
Establish a ladder for the yearbook
Oversee all staff meetings, making sure such meetings are
productive and timely.
Establish a calendar where key upcoming events, news tips, and
photo possibilities could be entered ahead of time
Keep room in order
Maintain individual staff files in which all assignment sheets and
completed assignments are kept. All work submitted by any staff member
should be recorded, along with any violation sheets, in this file. (No one
but the editor or adviser and the individual staff member will have access
to these files.)
Submit a weekly evaluation form for each staff members
Submit a summary comment sheet for each staff member every nine
weeks
Do a final check on all copy initialing it when it is ready for
print
Collect all pages at the end of each deadline for submission to
adviser
Be available to attend after school sessions
Know the computer system
Be impartial when giving assignments
Write and design the opening and closing section of the yearbook
and the division pages
Meet with adviser on a regular basis

Copy Editor
Primary responsibility for knowing the stylistic, grammatical,
ethical and legal standards of the yearbook
Generate ideas for stories that could appear in the yearbook
Reserve time after school for meeting deadlines
Write at least one story per deadline
Aid the other editors in the preparation of their copyAid in prop identification of all students in pictures
Attend all editorial board and staff meetings
Stress to reporters effective writing style
Help editor complete all story assignments in writing
After all stories are turned in for editing, assign one mandatory
rewrite and additional rewrites if needed
Keep story ideas in an "idea book"
Set a good example by keeping busy and encouraging others to do so
Be aware of the major editing problems for high school yearbooks

Section Editors
Attend all staff and editorial board meetings
Write at least one story or layout per deadline
Obtain ideas for stories and maintain deadlines for copy,
headlines, photos, captions, etc. for your section
Help assign in writing all stories and photos to staff reporters
and photographers
Check all facts and names in stories that will appear in the
section
The following responsibilities are section specific
-Student life: keep track of major school events.
-Sports: gather all team scores and obtain the team pictures (identify
players)
-Academics: assist in story ideas and section style
-People: alphabetize class photos, distribute activity sheets,
-Ads: coordinate ad sales, divide ads into pages, design all ads
Set a good example by keeping busy and encouraging others to do so
If assignments do not come in on time immediately notify the
editor so he/she can help the reporter solve this problem
Make sure all copy, heads, photos, artwork, and captions are
labeled correctly before going to the editor
Section editors are ultimately responsible for the completion of
their own section

Yearbook Reporter
Write at least one story, 5-10 captions, headlines, or layouts for
each deadline
Attend all staff meetings
Be available for after school sessions
Assist all staff members and editors whenever they need help
Make sure all assignment sheets are signed and returned to the
editorUnderstand that failing to meet a deadline will result in
disciplinary action
Check all facts and names that will appear in the copy
Self-edit and check the spelling of all stories prior to
submission
Complete all rewrites and rough layouts on time
All stories are to be typed according to staff stylesheet
Maintain assigned copy of the staff manual
Sell assigned number of ads
Promote the yearbook and help with distribution and the yearbook
sales campaign

Business Manager
Work with editors and advisor to plan and control the budget
Keep accurate records
Handle marketing and sales of yearbook
Oversee ad sales
Train staff to sell ads
Bill and oversee payment from advertisers

Photographer
Shoot photos as assigned and on time
Stay alert for photo opportunities (carry camera at all times)
Obtain caption information whenever possible
Keep organized files of negatives, contact sheets, and prints
Maintain supplies and equipment

Photo Editor
Meet all deadlines
Bridge gap between photographers and reporters
Stay alert to photo opportunities
Help with selecting, cropping, and scaling photos
Schedule group pictures
Provide training and feedback to photographers

Newspaper Staff

Job Description

Editor-in-Chief
Responsible for content of paper
Will determine what article should or should not be included in
each issue, and will insure proper balance between each areaWill call editorial board meetings to discuss each issue of the
paper to determine proper balance between sections
Responsible for staff relations
Supervise all areas of newspaper production
Liaison between administration, adviser, and staff
Responsible for some writing especially the editorial page
Ultimate responsibility for proofreading each section

Managing Editor
Assigns class, organization, activity, and community news
Responsible for content and proof reading
Responsible for headlines
Assigns bets to reporters
Keeps a futures book
Responsible for some writing, especially on the editorial page
Proofreads every edition

Layout Editor
Responsible for any artwork, special effects or design, which
should appear in the paper.
Should proofread copy
Responsible for seeing that each article has a headline and that
each picture has a cutline
Responsible for putting together articles, photos, and other
elements to form the most attractive, interesting and efficient paper
possible
Works with printer

Sports Editor
Responsible for the balanced coverage of all sporting events,
girls and boys, or any athletic activities
Responsible for accuracy of scores, names, and dates in the
stories he assigns
Responsible for securing photographs of good quality to accompany
stories
Will be responsible for assigning sports stories
Proofreads all sports stories
Will write any sports editorials

Feature Editor
Responsible for all features and columns in paperMakes sure each member of the staff writes at least one feature
Responsible for letters to the editor
Proofreads al features

Reporters
Responsible for a beat and relations between the staff and people
on that beat
Responsible for developing at least two stories from beat
Must write stories assigned
Proofreads own stories
Sells advertising
Will type stories turned in

Business Manager
Develops and maintains a budget
Makes deposits with the school treasurer
Writes receipts when necessary
Keeps track of accounts and keeps running ledger
Responsible for advertising and sales
Writes and develops ideas for newspaper articles

Advertising Manager
Supervises sale of all advertising
Keeps ledger of advertising paid and due
Reminds staff of advertising still needed
Designs advertisements
Writes and develops ideas for newspaper articles

Photographer
Supervises equipment and its use
Maintains equipment and takes care of repair procedures
Maintains a neat, clean dark room
Keeps a file of negative keyed to a notebook or contact prints
Fulfills assignments from editors
Assigns picture taking event to others
Takes initiative in finding good pictures

Policy Guide

Advertising
We reserve the right to refuse advertising that the staff
determines is false or misleading to the student body. No ads will beprinted that promote products or services that do not meet community
standards for good taste or that are illegal to the majority of the
student audience. Advertisements that appear in the publication are not
necessarily endorsed by the publication.

Artwork/Illustrations
Artwork or photo illustrations will be marked as such. No artwork
or illustration will be meant to ridicule or demean a specific person.

Book Sales
A valid receipt or cancelled check deposited in the publications
account will constitute proof of purchase.
No books will be sold before the before announced date.
Exchanges can be made for books with minor flaws if no writing is
in the book. If a book has been written in, then no exchange can be made
unless the adviser feels the flaw in the book is of major proportion
(pages missing, pages in upside down).

Corrections (newspaper only)
If any error or magnitude is printed that could affect the
interpretation of the content by its readers, it shall be corrected and
proper facts placed in the following issue under the heading "correction."
Such corrections will run on an as needed basis determined by the
publication's staff.

Letters (newspaper only)
The publications staff encourages letters to the editor so that
readers might share in the opportunities of the scholastic free press in
open forum. Only signed letters will be accepted which meet laws and
standards regarding libel, defamation, obscenity, incitement, and
copyright rules. Signatures may be withheld upon request when the writer
can show need to remain anonymous. Letters submitted become the property
of the paper; none will be returned. In the event that we have an
abundance of letters turned in, we cannot promise that every letter is
printed. It is up to the discretion of the editorial board and the
adviser.
It is the staff policy not to allow the same topic to be disputed
issue after issue. Also if a letter is submitted with more than three
signatures on it, only the first three names will be printed.

Obituaries
When a student or a member of the school staff dies during the
current coverage period, the staff of the school publication will treat
the death in an appropriate, respectful manner.
The portrait of that person will appear as it would under normal
circumstances, in the same location and at the same size. The name of the
person and the dates of birth and death will appear under the photograph.
For those readers who were associated with the deceased, this
treatment will provide a memory of the individual. For all others, it
provides a record of events.

Portraits
All students and school personnel must have their portraits made
with the official school portrait photographer in order to be included in
the current volume of the publication.
Since the school-selected studio provides student identification
photos at no charge, and publication photos are taken simultaneously,
there will be no charge for seniors, underclass students or faculty/staff
who want only publication/ID photos.
The school-selected photographer will take all senior portraits
for the yearbook. There is no fee for the "Yearbook Only" session.
Additional poses will be assessed additional fees. Seniors must sit for
the picture by October 1 and return the preview pictures to the
photographer by October 30 in order to be included in the current yearbook
and to select the pose of their choice.
All students and faculty/staff will be afforded two opportunities
to have their portraits taken. (The original date and the retake date.)
By having all portraits taken by the same photographer under the
same conditions, the publications staff can be assured of the highest
quality reproduction of all photographs, serving the best interests of all
students.

Prior Review
The publications will not be reviewed by administration, faculty, or
students prior to its release to the public. The staff or adviser may seek
advice from the administration on paper content at any point in
production.
A source will not arbitrarily be able to demand to read the reporter'scompleted story and then perform editing tasks on that story. However,
student reporters may choose to have sources review their stories prior to
production as a means of verifying facts and quoted material.

Queries
All questions or complaints concerning material published in the
newspaper should be made, preferably in writing, to the editor-in-chief or
adviser, who will present the concern and reach a resolution with the
staff as soon as possible.

Sources
Publication reporters will not, within all boundaries of the law,
reveal a source who asked to remain nameless.
All interviewers will respect their interviewee's right to have
information remain "off the record" if that fact is known before giving
the information to the reporter.
All reporters will attempt to obtain a minimum of three sources
for each story.

Style Guide

Abbreviations
Always write the complete name of an organization on first
reference and after that use the abbreviation without periods.

Capitalization
Capitalize all proper names. (Anywhere High School)
Capitalize mascots (Cubs), group names (National Scholastic Press
Association), awards (Pacemaker), documents (Bill of Rights), geographic
locations (the West) and other proper nouns.
Do not capitalize school subjects unless you are referring to
specific courses. (Pre-Calculus, math, World History, history class)
Always capitalize languages. (English, Spanish)
Do not capitalize junior varsity, varsity of freshman and the
names of sports in copy and captions.
Do not capitalize names of classes. (senior class, sophomore
girls)
For school departments, capitalize the name but not the work
department. (English department) For clubs, capitalize the name of the
word club. (Chess Club)Capitalize titles when they precede names but not when they follow
names. (Principal Roger Mills; Roger Mills, principal)
Capitalize east, northwest, south, Midwest when they refer to a
region, not when they refer to a direction. (Northwest Indiana, Go east on
61st Avenue.)

Dates
Do not use st, nd, rd, th. (June 16, not June 16th)
Do not use the year for a date that occurs in the current year.
Spell out months without a specific date. (School starts in September.)
Abbreviate longer months when used with a specific date. (The fist
day of school is Sept. 10.) These months can be abbreviated: Jan., Feb.,
Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. Do not abbreviate these months: March,
April, May, June and July.
Do not abbreviate days of the week.
Do not use on in reference to dates.
When a phrase lists only month and year, do not separate year with
commas. (July 1993) When a phrase includes a month, day and year, set off
year with commas. (July 15, 1992, is the first day of the class.)

Names
Use first and last names on first reference for both students and
adults. If the name is mentioned again in the story, use only the last
name.
Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr. or Ms. In front of the
names of teachers or other adults. Use courtesy titles, Mr., Mrs., Miss or
Ms., when needed to differentiate among people with the same last name.
Identify people the first time their name is used. Identify
students by year or class, teachers or other school employees by position
at school and persons from outside school by position held relevant to the
story. (Brian Roberts '92 or senior Brian Roberts; James Witt, English
department, or Principal Roger Mill; Jane Smith, parent of senior Janet
Smith)

Numbers
Pell out numbers under 10. (seven)
Use numerals for numbers 10 and greater. (45)
When numbers under ten and greater than 10 are used in the same
sentence, use numerals for all. (7 and 45)
Spell out approximate figures. (About two thousand)
Spell out fractions less than one.
Do not start sentences with numeral. (Fifteen students studied. Inthe library, 15 students studied. The year 1988 was a good one.)
In four-digit numbers, no comma is needed. (5000)
Use numerals in dates, times, scores, and addresses.
For dollars, use numerals, not words. ($5; not $5.00 or five
dollars)
For amounts less than a dollar use numerals and the word cents.
(50 cents)
For amounts up to 999,999, use numerals, but for 1 million and
above, use numerals and the word million. ($2 million).
For percentages, use numerals followed by the word percent. (7
percent; not 7% or seven percent).
Use figures for all temperatures except zero. Use the word minus,
not a minus sign, to indicate negative numbers. (minus 25 or zero)
Spell out and capitalize first through ninth when used as street
names. Use figures for 10th and above. (Third Street or 61st Avenue)

Punctuation

Apostrophes
Use an apostrophe in contractions in indicate the omission
of one or more letters. (isn't for is not and they're for they are)
Use an apostrophe to indicate the possessive case of
nouns. (The boy' dog followed him to school. The students' radios were
confiscated.)
Do not use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns. (its,
ours, theirs, yours, his, and hers)
Use an apostrophe plus s to form the plural of letters.
(He earned straight A's in Spanish.)
Do not use the apostrophe to form the plural of years and
other numbers. (1990s)

Attribution
Use said when attributing quotes unless a person actually
yelled, whispered, etc. o not use present tense, says.
Place said after the name because the name is most
important.
Do not use phrases such as "when asked."
Do not use direct quotes for factual information. Source's
exact words are not necessary.
Place the attribution after the quote; start a new
paragraph after the attribution. Do not bury direct quotes in the middle
of paragraphs; place them in paragraphs of their own.
When direct quotes are long, place the attribution in the
middle, between sentences.
Colons
Use a colon before long lists or long quotes.
Capitalize independent clauses following a colon. (To
restate the problem: is the community of the state responsible for quality
education.)
Do not use a colon after verbs such as are or include.

Commas
Do not use a comma prior to and in a series, unless the
series is long and complicated. (peas, carrots and beans)
Always place commas inside quotation marks.
Use a comma to end a quote when quote is followed by
attribution ("I like her." Senior David Gell said.)
Use a comma to set off nonessential clauses and phrases,
including titles after names. (Howard Woerner, who is out biology teacher,
won the competition.)
Use a comma after a dependent clause beginning a sentence.
(After the bell rang, the class left.)
Use a comma to precede a direct quote in quotation marks.
(Larry said, "Our bowling team really had to work for the championship.")
Use a comma to indicate a minor break in thought. (Wait
three seconds, then run.)

Dash
Use the dash sparingly in news copy.
Use a dash to indicate a break in thought or the addition
of information within or at the end of a sentence. (Coach Ed O'Hara - a
champion debated in his own right - has led the forensic team to victory
after victory.)
Include a space before and after a dash.

Exclamation Points
Use the exclamation point only rarely after exclamatory
sentences, interjections and emphatic statements.
Never use more than one exclamation point at a time.
Place the exclamation point inside the quotation marks
only when it is part of the quotation. (He said, "Get out of here!" I love
to watch "Cosby"!)

Hyphens
Use a hyphen to avoid ambiguity. (I saw a man-eating
shark. (a shark that may injure people) I saw a man eating shark (a man
having shark for dinner)
Hyphenate compound adjectives preceding a noun, but not
adverbs. (she is a well-known playwright. This is dull, poorly written
body copy.)

Periods
Always place periods inside quotation marks. ("It is
true.")
Do not use periods in abbreviations for schools or school
organizations. (OHS, NHS)
Use periods in time and school degrees. (a.m.; B.A.,
Ph.D.)
Use a series of periods - an ellipsis - to indicate an
omission of words. Treat the ellipsis as a three letter word constructed
of three periods and two spaces. (We the peoplefor the United States of
America.)

Question Marks
Place the question mark inside quotation marks only when
it is part of the quotation. (He asked, "What time does the game start?"
Have you read "To Build a Fire"?)
Do not use a question mark after an indirect question. (I
wonder when our next quiz is.)

Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks before and after direct quotes. ("I'm
not sure whey I'll do after graduation," Senior Marina Verdi confessed.)
Use quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph of
quot4ed material and at the end of the last paragraph. Do not use
quotation marks at the end of the paragraph when the same speaker is
quoted at the beginning of the next paragraph.
Use quotation marks for names of musical composition,
radio, and television shows, poems, magazine articles, short stories and
chapters in a book. Use italics for names of books, plays, movies, and
magazines.
Use single quotes for a quotation within a quotation. (The
teacher asked, "Have you read Poe's 'The Tell-tale Heart'?")
Don not use quotation marks for indirect quotations. (He
said he would be a candidate for student council.)
A dash, semicolon, question mark, or exclamation point go
inside quotation when they apply to the quoted matter only. They gooutside whey they apply to the whole sentence.

Semicolons
Use the semicolon sparingly in news stories.
Use a semicolon to delineate names and titles in a
complicated sentence. (The committee included Kevin Tuerff, manager of
KTSB Radio; Sharon Justice, dean of students; Laura Sanderson, board
member; and Frank Cooksey, mayor."
Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses not joined
by a conjunction. (Jim played tuba; Carolina played flute.)
Use a semicolon to separate clauses of a compound sentence
that are joined by words such as therefore, however, nevertheless, or
otherwise. (He must turn in his paper; otherwise, he will fail.)
Place the semicolon outside quotation marks. (Mrs. Lang
was voted "Coach of the Year"; her students think she should also be
"Teacher of the Year."

Time
Use 9a.m. and 9:15 a.m. Do not use 9 o'clock in the morning, 9:00
a.m. or 9 A.M.
Use midnight or noon rather than 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.
Do not use today, tonight, yesterday, tomorrow because of yearly
publication. (yearbook)

**Refer to the Associated Press Style Guide for situations not covered
here.

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